Street or station indicator.



J. L. OLSUN.

STREET 0R STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.18, 1911.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

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NVENTOR COLUMBIA PLANUGRAPH Co..wASI-IINGTON. n. E.

J. L. OLSON.

STREET OR STATION INDICATOR.

APPLIGATIDN FILED DB0. 18, 1911.

Patented A101128, 1914.

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STREET OR STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED D110. 18, 1911.

APatented Apr. 28, 1914.

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R of uw CDLUMBM l'LANoL-.RAPH CO,.WASHINGTON. D. c.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

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COLUMBIA PLANocRAPH C0.,WASH1NGTON, D. c.

J. L. OLSON.

STREET 0R STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED DEG.18, 1911. 1,094,743. Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

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STREET 0R STATION INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED 11110.18, 1911.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914.

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NVENTOR lforney CQLUMBIA PLANouR/PH co..wAsH|NuTnN, D. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOI-IN LAIVIBURT OLSON, OF ST. PAUL, MINNESOTA.

STREET OR STATION INDICATOR.

To all '107mm it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN LAMisURT OLSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. Paul, in the county of Ramsey and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street or Station Indicators; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will en able others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in street or station indicators-one object of the invention being to so construct the machine that it can be operated automatically to shift the ribbon containing the names of streets or stations, and so that an electric motor can be utilized to project the ribbon or sheet step-by-step or to continuously wind more or less of said ribbon or sheet from one roller to another.

A further object is to provide means for insuring freedom of rotation of the roller onto which the ribbon is being wound, and for applying limited resistance to the rotation of the roller from which the ribbon is being unwound, whereby said ribbon will be maintained taut under all conditions.

A further object is to so construct an electrically operated street -or station indicator that, by manipulation of a single shaft, the various instrumentalities for controlling the movement of the ribbon which contains the names of the streets or stations, shall be simultaneously reversed.

A further object is to so construct a street or station indicator that the use of spring motors shall be obviated, and so that the accurate and easy operation of the machine, without strain on the ribbon, shall be insured.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings; Figure 1 is a front elevation of the indicator; Fig. 2 is a side view; Fig. 3 is an enlarged front view partly in section, with the casing removed, and showing the mechanism; Figs. 1 and 6 are right and left side views of the mechanism; Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view through the center of the mechanism looking toward the side shown in Fig. 4; Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail view partly in Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed December 18, 1911.

Patented Apr. 28, 1914:.

Serial No. 666,320.

section and partly in elevation; Fig. 8 is an enlarged sectional view showing the circuit shifting devices and adjacent parts; Figs. 9 and 10 are enlarged detail views illustrating the clutch devices. Fig. 11 is a diagrammatical view of the circuits and Fig. 12 is a detail view of the trolley devices.

1 represents a suitable base, to which uprights 2--3 are secured and these, together with transverse rods e extending from one upright to the other, constitute the frame which supports various mechanisms hereinafter described. Vinding rollers 5 and 6 are disposed between the uprights and on the latter, suitable ball bearings are provided for these rollers. The ribbon on shield 7 which bears the names of the streets or stations, passes from one of these rollers and winds upon the other as hereafter explained) and said ribbon or sheet also passes over guide rollers 8-9 mounted in ball bearings, between the uprights 2 3. The ribbon or sheet 7 also passes over an upper roller 10 with which certain devices coperate to control the feeding movements of the ribbon to expose the names of streets thereon, one after another, in front of a slot 11 in the front of the casing. In order that passage of the ribbon over the roller shall accurately rotate the latter to insure the proper action of the controlling devices above referred to, said roller is provided with sprocket wheels 12 and the ribbon is provided near each of its side edges with perforations to engage over the sprockets of said wheels. To insure such engagement of the ribbon with the sprocket wheels, guide wheels 13 are provided. These guide wheels are mounted (preferably on ball bearings) in frames or carriers 14C which are movably mounted on the frame and provided with handles 15, by means of which they can be raised to permit the placing of the ribbon over the roller 10 and the sprocket wheels thereon. Each frame or carrier 14 is provided with a lug 16 projecting below the handle and against this lug, a spring 17 secured to the frame, bears for the purpose of insuring uniform pressure of the guide rollers upon the ribbon where the latter passes over the sprocket wheels.

The journals of the winding rollers 5 and 6 are extended beyond the upright 2 of the frame and form shafts 12S-19, on which intermeshing gear wheels 20-21 are loosely CJ i Cri

f1-i 34d mounted. The ripper gear 2l receives inotion frein the gear 20 and the latter reeeives iiiotioii troni a pinion Q2. ii gear is rotatable with the pinion and -rceeiif'es inotion from a pinion Q-l, the .zitter being rotatable with a gear Which receives inotioii roin a pinien on the arinatiire shaft of an electric niet-er Thus it vvill be seen that when the electric inotor is operated in tion ivill be imparted through the gearing above described to trie gears on the shafts oi the Winding' rollers. @lily one ot the Winding rollers will. be positively driven by the inetor atany ti.ine,-viz. the roller on .vhieh the ribbon is being' wound, and 'to enable one or the other gear Q or 2l te positively drive the Winding roll Vith ivliieh it is eenneeted, eliiteh devices an@ are eniploved. 'lle this end, eaeh gear 2O and 2l is provided with a hub or flange 28 einbraced b voi clutch bend 29 provided at its ends with lags 30 3l. The clutch band also provided with a lug secured by ineans et a serev.v n t a lug on a dish or au LO collar @5 securely keyed to the shaft 1S er il) as the ease may be. rlhe eliiteh bands re also provided with lugs 3G, to Wl ich levers Si" are pivetally Connected7 the long` arins of said levers being in position to be engaged by Cones 38 movable on the shells 13m-lijf and the short arins 23S) of said levers beingl in viosition to engage levers Ll() disposed at right angles theeto, Al bol. Llil passes threiigh heles in tie lugs lO-3l o t eaeli eliiteli band and to the upper end oi' eaeh bolt elli one end of level' 4:10 is pivotally connected. laeh lever 4l@ is provided ne( r its pivotal Connection with bolt 1li, with a tee l2 which bears iipoii the adjacent oliiteh band lng` 30. Freni this construction and arrangement oi parts7 it will be seen that when one of the cones 38 is inoved toward the adjacenteliitch, it will7 by engagement with the lever 3T: 'tu 'n said lever on its plv etal support and Cause its shortarni 39 to depress the lever d0.; eaiisinel the latter to turn on it, 1 support en Clutch band liijg; EO and d aiv upon the bolt- -fll to clamp the clutch band on the :lange or hnb 28 and thus secure one or" the gear wheels or Q1 to shalt, se tliit the inotor ivill be or used to iiositively drive the Winding roller to vvliieli siieh gear wheel is thus seeiiied. ldlhen 20 er Qi is clutched to its shaft, thfn l an( ineens are provie'ied fer siiniiltaiie l e' one elnteh and closing;` the et, cireetien of operation oit t-ie di s reversed when it is dcsii' reverse the direction of travel et tile r' or sheetl which eoiita'ns the naines fr" streets or stations. The leviees for lfear ivheel will be free on the s lait arin or b aa-liet i8 on the raineivorl-zj t reef-mee oil? whichn ene end a rod is connected,-tlie ripper end of said rod beingl eonneeted vitli tie strap 5l of an eccentric l shaftlleyed to a This shaft passes through the iraineivorlr and is provided at one end (beyond the rising) .vith a handle by ineaiis of which it may be in ned `lo; the purpose e' shifting` the elnt l lies a` and 7) and iccr other iii-poses which will be hereinal'ter explained. ln order to reta'a the sl aft 53 in the position te ivhieh it may be spring-pressed dogs 55 may be ein-- pl for limiting` the nioveineiits of the iandle. lt is apparent that when the handle is moved, the shaft 53 ivill be turned and that nietioii ivill be iinQarted by the cecentrie and the Connections between the atter and the cones ll to shift the clutches and thus Clutch one winding roller to its geni' and iiiieliiteh 'the other Winding roller frein 'ts gear.

llfhen one ivincing roller is Winding the ribbon thereon and therefore pulling;` it frein the other Winding roller, it is desirable that slight resistance shall be oilfered to the rotation et the roller ifroni which the ribbon is beingv iinvvoiind and vet perniit the Vollcr on Whieh the ribbon is being` wound ite freely, se that under all conditions and regardless of the relative amounts olf tape en the tivo Winding` rollers7 the ribbon slial hc maintained tint without danger of iiiidiie fain on the tape For this per pose, brakes w-fl are provi/red for the shafts oll respective winding; rollers, and deviees actuated frein the controlling; shaft 535 a"e employed for applying one said brakes and siiniiltineoiisly releasinin)l the a 'llhese bralres and their actuatle explained. The en: ending` bevond its il nd provided with y'are jaivs :38 5) einid 'te the bralre is ifwotedl said between its ied in; attached te e normally clamp the jaws to the brake Wheel 'withL siiflieient ie ver to ""'iard the rotation eli "he winding; l n. but Without Mi'e iiiidiie resistanee s irireeiselyy the saine :is the leser bed.` an v il re.-

i ereto. edr` near with tivo Q-Gvh and vers Gel Cil is connected, by means of a rod 66 with the weighted lever 60 of the brake c and the outer end of the rod is connected by means of a rod 67 with the weighted arm 60 of the brake fi, rlhus it will be seen that when the shaft 53 is turned to shift the clutches a and Z), the eccentrics 62-63 will be operated to release the brake from one winding roller and apply the brake to the other winding roller.

The journals of the roller 10 are extended beyond their bearings in the standards 2-3 of the framework and to these journals, disks 68 are secured and each of these disks is provided with a plurality of notches 69 (three being shown in each disk), each of said notches being approximately one inch in length and forming a shoulder 70 at one end. Two solenoids 71 are secured to the framework above the disks 68 and the cores 7 2 of these solenoids are pivotally connected to pivoted arms 73, each of the latter being provided with a tooth 74 to engage the shoulders 70 of the adjacent disk 68. The cores ot the solenoids are normally pressed in a direction to insure the engagement of the. teeth 7-1 of arms 73 with shoulders 70 of the disks 68, by means of springs 7 5 in the solenoid bobbins. An air pot 76 is located near each solenoid and the plungers of these air pots are connected by rods 77 with the arms 7 3 for retarding the movement of the latter in both directions, for a purpose hereinafter explained.

The arms 78 are provided, respectively, with switch arms 78-79,-the construction ot each of which is the same. Each switch arm has secured thereto, a block 80 of insulating material having sockets in which springs 81 are located. These springs operate to press a contact plate 82 mounted on said block into close contact with contact heads 83-81 on the ends of binding posts 85-86 carried by an insulating block 87 secured to the framework. The contact plate on the switch arm is guided and prevented from displacement by means of pins 88 secured to said plate and passing through the block 80 and switch arm and insulated from the latter.

block o9 of insulating material is secured to the standard 3 of the framework by means of arms or braces 90, and this block carries two contact rings 91 and 92 each provided with suitable binding posts. The insulating` lock also supports contact heads 93 91, .9596 and 97 and 98, each of said heads being provided with a suitable binding post.

switch arm 99 is secured centrally between its ends to the shaft 53 and parallel with the block 89. This switch arm carries a gplurality of spring-pressed brushes to cooperate with the contact devices carried by the block 89, and each brush is suitably insulated from the switch arm. Thus the switch arm 99 is provided with brushes 100-101 to coperate with the contacts 93-94L and S15-96 and these brushes are electrically connected by a short conductor 102. Brushes 103-104L are electrically connected by a conductor 105 and cooperate with the contact ring 91 and contact head 98, and brushes 106-107 are electrically connected by a conductor 108 and engage the ring 92 and contact 97 respectively.

A brake 109, the same in construction as the weights hereinbefore described, coperates with the armature shaft of the motor and is normally applied by the action of a weight 110. The core 111 of a solenoid 112 is connected with the weighted lever 113 of the brake 109.

The contact rings 91 and 92 are connected, respectively, with the Field termina-ls of the motor 27, by means of conductors 114L and 115 connected with binding posts under said rings. @ne terminal of the brake solenoid 112 is connected with an armature terminal of the motor by a conductor 116, and the other solenoid terminal is connected, by a conductor 117, with the contact 98. The other armature terminal is vconnected by a conductor 118 with contact 97. A line conductor 119 is connected at one end with the line leading from the trolley to the motors which operate the car, preferably in rear oft' the Yfuses commonly employed in the motor circuit, and at its other end the conductor 119 is connected with the contact 95. rllhe contact 96 is connected, by a conductor 120 with contact 85 of switch 79, and the contact 8% of this switch is connected,l by a conductor 121 with the switch ring 91 through the medium ot' a binding post under the latter. This same binding` post is connected by a conductor 122 with contact 8% of switch 78, and the contact 85 of this switch is connected, by a conductor 123, with contact 93, and contact 94 is connected, by a conductor 124 with the line conductor 119. A conductor 125 is connected at one end with the contact ring 92, and at the other end with one end of a resistance element 125% the other terminal of the latter being grounded by a conductor 125". rlhe solenoids 71 are included in parallel between the ground conductor 125 and a conductor 126, the latter being connected with a Contact arm 127 on the trolley pole.

A Contact arm 128 is mounted on the cross wire 129 from which the trolley wire 130 is suspended and is held in position to be engaged by the lateral contact arm 127 on the trolley pole, by means of a weighted arm 131. The lateral contact arm 127 is protected and prevented from being engaged by the contact arm 128 should the trolley wheel 132 leave the trolley wire, by means of a lateral frame 133 secured to the trolley pole. 1t will ot course be understood that the contact arms 128 will be located at the street crossings or stations.

ll'yhen a car passes a street crossing or station, the lateral contact arm 12T on the trolley pole will engage a contact arm 12S, and a circuit will thus be closed temporarily between the trolley and ground and including the solcnoids Tlwl in parallel. This circuit may be readily Vtraced from contactl arm 12S to contact arni 127, to conductor 120, through solenoids 71-T1 in parallel to conductor 125, through resistance 12511 and then by conductor 125b to the ground. The solenoids T1 will promptly raise their cores and the arms T3 being retarded somewhat by the action ot thc air pots, thus moving the teeth 'Tl ot said arms out` ot the notches (39 ot the disks S and releasing the ribbon spacing roller 10. Each air pot 'T0 is provided with a small port lill and a larger port 135 and the notches 09 in the disks are, as before stated. made approximately one inch in length. 1t may also he here stated that the notches in one ot the disks GS are arranged reversely to the notches in the other disk GS, so that one of the latch arms 73 will cooperate with one disk to prevent rotation ol the roller 10 in one direction, and the other latch arm 73 will cooperate with the other disk to prevent rotation of the roller 10 in the reverse direction. Now, as the operation oi' the solenoids to raise the latch arms for releasing the roller 10, is momentary, it is necessary thatI said latch arms shall not drop until notches ot both disks (S8 shall have passed the teeth ot both latch arms. This is accomplished by the operation of' the air pots. After the circuit ot the solenoids 71,1'1 shall have been opened by movement ot the contact arm 12T past the contact arm 128, the springs will tend to torce their cores and the latch arms downwardly, but such movement will be retarded by the plunger-s ot the air pots until the larger ports 135 in the latter have been passed by the plungers, when the latch arms will be permitted to quickly descend until their teeth 'T-l; rest upon the peripheral portions ot the moving disks GS. lVhen the disks shall have rotated sutliciently to bring other notches under the teeth of the latch arms. the latter will be forced quickly down and the disks 0S and the spacing roller will be stopped. lllhen the latch arms 73 were raised by the action of the solenoids 'T 1, the switch arms TS`T9 were caused to descend and electrically connect the contacts Set-S with the result o't closing the niotor circuit and thus causing the motor to operate the mechanism to move the ribbon. Such movement ot the ribbon will continue until the switches 'TS-T9 are again opened by Athe descent oit the latch arms 73 when other notches et the disks G8 move under the teeth 74 of said arms, as above explained. lt will also be observed that when the motor circuit is closed, the motor brake 109 will be released by the action ot the solenoid 112 and that as soon as the motor circuit is opened, this brake will be at once applied by the weight 110 and the motor will be promptly stopped.

Let it be assumed that the main switch arm 99 is in the position shown in the drawings.. Under such conditions, the motor circuits may be traced as follows when the switches 78-79 are closed: by line 119 to contact to brush 100, to brush 101, to contact 9G, by conductor 120 to contact 85 of switch T9, to Contact 84 of said switch, then by conductor 121 to contact ring 91. At this point the circuit divides between the held and armature circuits of the motor, placing the saine in parallel with each other. The armature circuit will be traced from ring 91 to brush 103, by conductor 105 to brush 10-1, then by conductor 117, through solenoid 112 and conductor 116 to one armature terminal; from the other armature terminal by conductor 118 to the contact 97, to brush 107, to brush 100 to contact ring 92. rllhe lield circuit will be traced from ring 91, to binding post under same, then by conductor 114 to one iield terminal, and from the other tield terminal, by conductor 115 to ring 92 by means of binding post under the same. rltlhe parallel motor circuits are thus connected with the ring 92 and the latter is grounded through conductor 125, resistance 125L and conductor 125D.

lllhen the shaft 53 is operated as hereinbefore described to reverse the direction of travel of the ribbon, the switch arm 99 will also be shifted so as to change the direction oit currentz through the armature circuit of the motor and thus reverse the operation ot the latter. When the armature circuit has been thus reversed, it. may be traced as tollows: from line 119, by conductor 124 to contact 9%, to brush 100, by conductor 102 to brush 101, to contact 93, then by conductor 123 to contact S5 of switch 78, to contact S4, by conductor 122 to ring 91, to brush 103 by conductor 105 to brush 10-1 to contact 97 by conduct-or 118 to one armature terminal, :trom the other armature terminal through conductors 116-117 and solenoid 112 to contact 9S, to brush 10T, by conduct-or 108 to brush G, then to contact ring 92 and finally to the` ground line. From the above description, it will be readily understood that when the shaft is turned, the clutches and brakes on the winding rollers will be shifted as before explained, and that sinniltaneously with such shifting, the electric circuits will be manipulated to reverse the motor 22 to reverse the direction of travel ot the ribbon.

The ribbon may be of sutlicient length to contain lists of streets o' all the railway lines of a city, so that the indicator may be adapted for use ou any line on which it may be desired to run the car. lt may be necessary therefore, at times to run a considerable amount of ribbon continuously from one winding roller to the other. To accomplish this, employ the motor and provide circuit connections whereby the motor can be continuously operated. rlhus l provide a circuit closer 13G operable by a push button 13T. One arm of the circuit closer is connected by a conductor 13S with the conductor 126 and the other arm of said circuit closer is connected at 139 with the line 119. it will be apparent that when the circuit is closed at 136, the switch solenoids '71 will be energized by current from the line 119; the switches IS-T9 will be closed and the motor will be operated continuously until the circuit is again opened at 136.

In order that the indicator shall denote the names of the transfer points of the various lines, l provide sheets or charts containing such data, and one of these sheets, 13T is attached to the front of the casing by means of clips 13S. Each chart 137 has indicated thereon, the names of the transfer points on the line and also data stating with what lines transfers can be made at the various transfer points. The chart also contains a notice that all streets noted on the tape with a specified character, are transfer points, and the names of streets on the tape where transfer points are located, are marked with said character on the tape as illustrated in Fig. 1 of the drawing. llt is desirable that the indicator shall be provided with means to denote the direction in which the mechanism is to run with respect to the direction in which the car is to run. To this end, l provide a sign or target 140 on which the words East7 and lWest7 or other direction indicating words are produced and one of these words will always be visible through a slot 14,1 in the front of the casing. The sign or target 14.-@ may be made curved as shown in Figs. 6 and 10 and is provided with a brace 14:2 pivotally supported at 1&3. A. curved arm las is fixed with relation to the sign or target and its brace and is movable with the same. The approximately7 horizontal portion of the arm is disposed under an eccentric 145 on the shaft 39, so that when shaft is turned to effect the various manipulations of the mechanism, as hereinbefore described, the cam 1&5, cooperating with the curved arm 144, will shift the sign or target.

It may be desired to provide an audible signal to attract attention of passengers to the operation of the indicator and thus de note when a street crossing or station is reached. This may be readily accomplished with the use of a buzzer 1&6 included in a local circuit a battery 14S, said cir- Abx( XY.

cuit also including contacts 149-15O which are bridged by a contact plate 151 carried by the arm 7 3.

Various slight changes might be made in the details of construction of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof or limiting its scope and hence l do not wish to restrict myself to the precise details herein set forth except as defined in the appended claims.

Having fully described my invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, is

1. ln an indicator, the combination withy two winding rollers, an electric motor and gearing between said motor and the winding rollers, of a spacing roller, a tape movable from one winding roller to the other and also passing over said spacing roller, a latch lever normally retaining said spacing roller stationary, an electro-magnetic device connected with the latch lever, a switch controlled by the latch lever, an electric circuit including the motor and said switch, another electric circuit including said electro-mag netic devices, means for momentarily closing said last-mentioned circuit to momentarily energize said electro-magnetic devices, an air pot, and connections between the plunger of the air pot and the latch lever, whereby the return of the latter toward the spacing roller will be retarded.

2. In an indicator, the combination with two winding rollers, a spacing roller, a motor, gearing between the motor and winding rollers, and a tape passing from one winding roller to the other and over the spacing roller, of disks on the spacing roller, each disk having a plurality of notches, pivoted latch arms to engage the notched disks, solenoids having spring pressed cores connected with said latch arms, air pots having their plungers connected with said latch arms, each air pot having a small air inlet near one end and a larger air inlet intermediate of its ends, whereby said latch arms can move freely to release the spacing roller when the solenoids are energized and be retarded in part of their return movement toward the locking disks after the solenoids have been denergized, an electric circuit including the motor, an electric circuit including said solenoids, means for momentarily closing and then opening the last-mentioned circuit, and switches in the motor circuit controlled by the latch arms.

3. In an indicator, the combination with two winding rollers, a tape passing from one to the other, a motor and gearing between the motor and the winding rollers, of clutches for connecting the winding rollers to the gearing, a controller shaft, an eccentric thereon, cones on the shafts or journals of the winding rollers, connectionsy between said cones and clutches,- a lever pivoted between its ends and connected with said cones, a central arm on said lever, and a connection between said arm and the eccentric on the controller shaft.

il. ln an indicator, the combination with two Winding rollers, a tape passing4 from one to the other, a motor7 gearing between the motor and said rollers, and means for connecting said rolle s alternatively with the gearing, of a brake for each roller, Weights for applying said brakes, a controller shaft, two oppositely disposed eccentrics on said shaft, and devices intermediate of said eccentrics and the Weights of the brakes for releasing one brake or the other when the controller shaft is turned.

roeier/ie 5. n an indicator, the combination "with two Winding,- rollers, a tape passing from one to the other, a motor for driving said rollers, and means for reversing the direction orp rotation of the rollers, said means including a controller shaft, o1 an oscillatory slide or target, an eccentric on the controller shaft, and an arm movable With the sign or target and operable by said eccentric.

ln testimony whereof, I have signed this specilication in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses.

JOHN LAMBURT OLSON.

Witnesses J. O. NELSON, VM. A. STAAGK.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for ve cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Eatents, Washington, D. E. 

